Process of making edged tools



53.1. i ngz.

July 5, nl937 .J. H. L. DE BATS '2,086,121

PROCESS OF MAKING EDGED TOOLS Filed Nov. 9, 1934 3 sheets-Sheet 1IVENTOR Jean Hubert Louis De Bal's BY ATTORNEYS July 6, 1937. J. H. L.DE BA1-s 2,086,121

PROCESS 0F MAKING EDGED TOJOLS` Filed Nov. 9, 1934 s sheets-sheet 2Fig?. 53.8. 44

. IVENTOR Jed? Hlrf Louis De Bats ATTORNEYS July 6, 1937.

J. H. L. DE BATS PROCESS oF MAKING EDGED TooLs Filed NOV. 9, 1954 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Je... E@

NVENTOR ATTORN EY;

mensa July e, 1937 UNIT-ED STATES PATENT .ori-"ICE Carbides Corporation,Y corporation of New Jersey one v.application Numbers, 1m, sei-mm.isz-,m

x4 This invention relatesl to a process of preparing edged tools fromVhigh melting,liard materials' such as tungsten carbide, molybdenumcarbide, tantalum carbide, titanium carbide, boron v 5 carbide and otherhard, high melting compounds of metals of the .V and VI periodic groups,and/or mixtures ofthe same.

Hitherto, in the preparation of edged cutting tools various steels havebeen preferred. due to their workability and their capacity to receiveforging treatments. In the eld of the refrain tory carbides, thenaturally high mineralogical hardness has militated egainstfthe 'use ofthese otherwise suitable materials because of the dimculty of formingthe same and the inherent brit- .tleness of the material.

In my prior patents, No. 1,951,133, Compositions of matter and processof preparing same, issued March'13, 1934, patent application Serial No.

597,083, Improved wear-resisting products and cutting tools, and thelike. led January 16, 1932, and Patent No. 1,950,355, Improved'cuttingand forming tools and wearing surfaces, issued March 6, 1934, there havebeen disclosed methods oi!v Y of auxiliary metals such as cobalt,=nickel and*V iron to make the composites workable under pressure. In myco-pending application Ser. No. 580,727, Refractory metal compounds andprocess of making same, filed December 12, 1931.

there is disclosed a process of preparing refractory metal compounds formachine 'tools and machine elements in which refractory base materialsare desirably heated, without pressure, to a'point at which the massexpands or swells up internally and in which process the sc expanded,but yet 40 solid, unitary mass is `subjected to a forming treatment ofthe order of forging or compressing. or the heated, butvnot yet expandedmetal, is also formed in the same manner. v-

. A feature of the present invention, is the pressureless treatment ofrefractory materials such as the carbides of themetais of the v and -VIperiodic groups, vas indicated above, to secure edged members in asimple and eicient manner.

A further feature of novelty of the present in- 5o vention resides inthe treatment of non-.compacted powdered refractory materials to form"chalklike solid masses which may be worked to give blanks of a desired"general configuration sultable for cutting members of various kinds,and

sr the subsequent treatment of such so-formed Thus a generallyrectangular block 'may (Cl. 'I6-104) blanks, at high heats, to compactand/or densi! same by the sole action of applied beat.

It is also a 'separate feature of this invention to provide an improvedprocess for preparing edged tools and formed articles of various kinds 5by incorporating refractory materials in a workable sheathing andthereafter consolidating and forming the composite to a desired finishedshape..

Other features 'of novelty and advantage of. the, present inventioninclude improved operating 10 steps and heat treatments as well asapparatus features permitting speedy and accurate working and carryingout of the improvements of the present invention.

Considering the several features ofthe present 15 invention generally,one form of operative procedureginvolvea the taking of a powdered massof a refractory carbidesuch as any of molybdenum carbide, tungstencarbide; boron carbide,. tantalum carbide, titanium carbide. berylliumcarbideI zo l or mixtures of the same, or others. as well as admixturthereof with auxiliary metals such asV any of cobalt, nickel or iron.,or carbon-free refractory alloys such as tungsten alloyed with cobalt,and in percentages ranging from a fractionl es of a per cent. upto ofthe of the complete material, and placing ,same in suitable containersand in a non-compacted condition. The containers with their containedrefractory material are heat treated in suitable at a0 tempemme's or thearder or moo' c. tu :500 c..

depending upon the composition and bulk ofthe materials and 'for timeperiods of theorder of minutes to one hour depending upon bulk or massof the material treated; 35 content of the refractory component, will bethe duration of the heat treatment 'and the higher the temperature ofthe treatment.

VAfter the completion of such heat treatmentitwillbefoundthatthematerialhasshrunken 4oor agglomerated to a. solidbody of generally chalk-like consistency, that is, the material while lpossessing sumcient strength'to permit its hinghandledasaunitorbodyisdistinctlyfriable and.

y b e readily worked and simple 45 shaping methods. While intliacondition the blocks ma'y be formed to auch shapes that when theformed block is cut or sliced in a plurality of sections the resultingver rious edge cutting in configura ably smoved 0n the 'cette trailongitudinal so' when nich a., J block is sliced the resultingl blankswill have the general form of safety razor bildet. Oflain; a

its surface or otherwise-shaped to give saw teeth or milling cutteredges or the like. Such a cylindrical block may be centrally perforatedand pro- ,vided with'a. key slot, after which blanks are sawed. ofi inany suitable thickness, depending upon the type of -article being made.As indicated above, the chalky mass 2l may be cut or rough formed to adesired shape. Ordinary copper disks or like cutting wheels, fed withsuitable lapping or cutting materials, such as diamond dust, may be ysedfor slicing or separating blanks. A carbide mass may be treated in thismanner because its bulk affords support to the blanks as formed duringthe cutting'operation. Surface forms may be impartedto thefriablecarbide mass by suitable forming tools.

AThe blanks formed according to the procedure above outlined may now -bepacked in suitable containers in loose powdered refractory embedments ofnon-reactive materials such as any of graphite, periclase (MgO) and thelike. Where large sized blanks are being treated they may bev ofembedment between the same. When the container has been suitably filledit is covered and placed in a furnace which may be slowly and uniformlyheated to temperatures of the order of `2,000 to 2,500 C., and forperiods of from ten minutes to an hour depending upon the size of theblanks being treated. Pure carbide materials may have to be treated attemperatures up to the order of 2,500 C. whileblanks made ofcompositionscontaining auxiliary, lower melting metals, will preferablyrequire lesser heat treatment down to 2,000 C. In any case, the amountof heat is such'as to cause the maximum/s nkage of the blank but not theexpansion of the material of the same.

After the desired heat treatment has been ac may vary from an hour totwenty-'four hours or more, again depending uponthe size and bulk of thearticles treated. This slow cooling permits the relief of any strainswhich may have been set up in the heating of the materials, although thetreatment is preferably so carried out as to preclude the formation 'ofany strains." When the cooling has been completed and the articles haveattained room temperature they are re?-l moved from the container andtreated further.

The blanks, removed from the container and its embedment, are cleanedand then polished tion the polishing and edge forming operations 70.-tungsten carbide, boron carbide, tantalum carare. preferably done bydiamond grinding and lapping. For some "purposes, where the materialsare suillciently soft, that is where an appreciable amount of auxiliarymetal is present, materials like boron carbide and other refractorycarbides and silicides, such as carborundum, Aloxite or alumina may beused with success for certain of these operations.

It will thus be seen that molybdenum carbide,

bide, titanium carbide, beryllium carbide and other carbides alone, andin` admixture with auxiliary. metals such as cobalt, nickel, iron,tungsten-cobalt. and others, may be readily and 2,086,121 cylindricalblock may be formed and iluted onm simply formed into articles havingcutting edges without requiring excessive number of treatments ofvarious kinds, and more particularly without requiring the use ofenormous forming pressures, either before or after heat treatments.

Another method of forming articles having cutting edges, the saidarticles including refractory, normally non-workable materials such asmolybdenum carbides, tungsten carbide and the like, as the material ofthe cutting edge, will now be described.

In this form of the invention a powdered refractory material such asmolybdenum carbide, tungsten carbide, tantalum carbide, titaniumcarbide, beryllium carbide, boron carbide and other refractory carbides,silicides; tellurides of refractory metals of the Y and VI periodicgroups with or without auxiliary, lower melting metals associatedtherewith and in powdered form, are tamped or packed into tubularmetallic sheaths. These sheaths are sealed at both ends and subjected tosufficient heat, usually below the melting point of the sheath material,and for a s'uflcient length of time to permit the composite article toattain a uniform temperature throughout. In this condition the'compositearticle is straight .edge razors the resulting forged or.

formed blank may be provided with la back of stainless steel or thelike, preferably of the same metal as the sheath itself. This backingmember may be generally U-shaped to t over one edge of the blank, and ifa straight edge razor is to be formed it may be extended suicientlybeyond the blank to form the tang or holder of the nished product. Thetwo members are united as by welding or brazing and the compositearticle so formed may be rolled or swaged to approximate or give anarticle having the cross sectional outline of a razor or cutting toolbeing formed. After the desired rough form has been imparted tothearticle it may be hollow ground in the usual manner to properly shapethe same.

In the grinding operation the sheath metal is stripped from the cuttingedge and the carbide or refractory component exposed. This cutting edgecan then be formed by diamond grinding and finished on adiamond lap. Theresulting article will have a thin refractory carbide or other materialsas a central layer embedded in and supportedon 'all sides by arelatively softer,

tougher supporting material. 'Ilie cutting edge will be the only part ofthe refractory' material which is exposed. As the supporting metalextends substantially down to the cutting edge the natural frangibilityof the cutting edge material will not be a disadvantage because of thefirm support of the associated tougher metal parts. i

holder. .'IY'he, free or cutting edgeof suchsafety raaor blades may betreated as .by grinding to remove enough of the sheath metal to exposethe and2; Fig. 4 is an elevation `of the block of Pig. ,3i

i to give straight edge razor blanks;

` pacted but uncompressed refractory block;

refractory cutting material and the latter may Abe forined to aiinishedcutting elige by the usual diamond grinding and lapping operations.4

Referring now more particularly to the drawings: 1 shows a verticalsection partly in elevation of a furnacing-mould with lmcompressed-Flg.2ilsaviewsimilartol'ig. Lshowing the material .after the initialheating;

lmaterial therein;

ll'lg. 3 is an elevation of a slug or block of' material as Eformed inthe apparatus of rigs. li

shaped and sliced separaterazorblade blanks" nassen enaelepnttifmoratoestaat; heiter`Y container-with raso:- iilade blanks andlnnllatlnsembedmenttherein;

6 is aview similar'toJl'ig-sshovlinx an elevation of a cylindrical soliduncom- -.pressed refractory material;

' 'ra sueno elexation endrlgss 1e e :ront elevation ofthe` block nhomin'PlgA after'mrme ing saw and cutter blanks;

Pigs. 9, 10 and 10a are end elevations and an ebd section of rotarycutting knives showing theA method of sawing or slicing off from theblock andthe finished structure with beveled edge; g

Pig. 11 is an elevation of an linitially heat com;

ng. 12 snows the block or Fig. 11 rougit rig. 13 snows a method or amsnano 'polishing the cutting edges of the blades prepared from the blanksof Fig. 12;

Pig. 14. shows a finished straight edse Fmr blade;

Fig. 15 is a vertical cross section o f a refractory powder as enclosedin and sheathed in a member as shown in Fis. 16;

Fig. 16 is a compacted or forged blankwithtbe refractory core reactedAwith the sheath;

17 is a vertical sectione through a blank for- 'a cutting member asprovidedwitha back:

ng. 1s le a view simuar tolg; 1'1 snowing composite structure of thelatter and rolling or forging to rough blade shape;

Hg. 19 shows a method of removing sheath metal from adjacent the cutting--having a refractory core and cuttingvedgelwithia posing refractorycutting material msec n. go le aeroes eeotionlora nnienedlbleae softermetal sheathing;

Pig. 21 is an elevation of a two-part safety rasorblade of the Gillettetype made andformed from thememhers of Figs. 15 and i6; l.V v

Pig. 22 is a viewsimilar 'to Fig. v2i of a single blade segment forGinette type razors;

Fig. 23 is a vertical elevation of a Gillette type -safety razor with.blade segments of 2l inserted therein; and` Figs. 24 and. 25 areelevations of initially heat treated block and a roll formpreparedtherefrom. Referring more specifically tothe drawings, one

, mode of operation ofthv present invention is 'shownln Figs. 1 to 14,A24,. 25

treatment of an uncomp fractory mass 2l of any suitable carcomprehendspowdered rebide material such as pure molybdenum carbide, pure tungstencarbide, puretantaium carbide, pure boron carbide, pure titaniumcarbide, etc., aswellas any of theirmixture'aandalso compounds or alloyswith auxiliary metals of the type or sroup'comvriins .cobalt iron,nlckel. steel.

carbon-free molybdenum, cobalt, mclybdenumnickel, and/or tungstenfcobaltalloys, alone or in combination 'with Diller metals of the Vaudvluperiodic groups. Whereauxiliary metals are usedthe amolmtsthereof mayvary v from 1% meorleseup torso-toeliet of the total mass of theorilinal The refractory material 2l may be elwedina n any suitable. re-

.fractory materlalsuch as nichrome.'

nav-ing allettanti-l, The .container Ilr-maybejplsced in asuitablefurnace, not shown, a tcruperatl'lrev of the order of l to. fora-periodnf minutesto Aone hour d 'ependlnglupon bulk or mass of the v2lbeing treated-and the ,composition thereof; until a uniformly shrunkencoherent mass-2l is formed therein. 'Ihe l mass isallowed to cooiin thematerial is thorogunlyeoel, :am cooling l,operation may take from'one'to twentyifour hours or moredependinguponthe and-size of the blockl.

' 'I'he consolidated inassjl'ofthe originally pulverant is of a friable,cre- -taceoua consistency andmarben'eadily Suche blockfmay beshap'ed,asindi cam-inns, i,to sive aguas or block. n" simmetfinginoutlineorcrossection a safety razor blade #-blank-pfzthe type4Vazcentral longitudinal .suidinsletllwith 'esige guiding and lockingslots 12..' The-'so forium then be sawed or cutto-Tgiyerazombladeblanks# of. any desired Ihes'eiblnb may then -be placed in Vntrien'tingehas.or container llsandpil'edone on f' anther,` Qxnembedment.or Wilder Il of beingsprinkled over l separate and insulateitfmm otherThe 'containeris also filled-.Vith this embedding materiel, S0 *hill*Nilde blanks are wmllletel! -wvertd- Powdered mvhlte. carbon,zlro9ni,.maenes ia, including perlolaee, and 'other .-nonreactiveinsulating refractory materials may for the and-insulating matecontainerI lamaybethenfnrnaced-inany .-suitable furnacesuch as an induction orthe like, at'temperatures of `18Q0 to 2500 C.

and for time periods of from ten minutes to one Y hour dependingupon thesizeof the articles and.

'tobeiomogegouamand dense and une Vvfr 'acture wheibroken.rflfheyareno'long'e Y ble.

and may be ground as by means'of grinding and lapping wheels to giveiinisbed cut ting edges. The blade blanks are polished and ground asindicated, and edged, after which they are ready for use.

ond

'Iheblankll showninFig.- is'prepared in:

thesamexnannerastheslugorblockliprevious- 76 I ly described and thismember may be shaped as indicated in Figs. '1 and 8 to give a. blockhaving peripheral cutting teeth 4| of any desired coniiguration. Inaddition a central aperture 42 and keyway 43 may be formed in the blockafter which blanks 44, 45, may be sawed off from the block to be furthertreated in the manner above described to form finished circular saws andmilling cutters. Reamers and other rotary cutting members may beprepared in like manner.

Referring now to Figs. 9, 10 and 11, a cylindrical block 50 of initiallyconsolidated but friable refractory carbides and like materials may befirst provided with a central aperture 5| together with keyway 52, afterwhich separate blanks 53 are sliced or sawed off from theblock. Theblock 50 is generally of small diameter to give circular cutting knives53 for use in cloth cutting, leather skiving and slicing machines. Theblanks 53 may be rough beveled on one or both sides as indicatedgenerally at 54 and thereafter treated in bulk With like members todensify and consolidate the structure of the individual members..

After nish polishing and grinding a finished cutting edge 55 is formedwhich renders the knife ready for use.'

In Fig. 11 a block S0 of friable, heat-treated refractory materials isshown as a generally rectangular sectioned solid of slab-like shape.This solid block is sawed or cut to form a plurality of straight edgerazor blade or knife blade blanks.

6|. As shown these blades may comprise 'a body portion 62 with anintegral tang or handle portion 63. A plurality of the blanks 6I may beinitially ground to form rough cutting edges, after which the blocks areembedded in the usual refractory embedment in a container and furnacedin the usual manner to densify and consolidate the materials of theblanks. The: so-formedand densified blanks may then be cleaned andpolished to give a razor 64 having a cutting edge 65 formed by theaction of grinding wheels 66. The grinding wheels 6E may be loaded orsurfaced with diamond dust of suitable particle size to permit theinitial grinding to nished shape and other series of such wheels mayhave finer diamonds in the form of dust and surfacing t permit theiinished lapping of the cutting edge.

Not only may razor blades and circular cutting lmives, circular cuttingsaws and milling cutters and safety razor blades be formed according tothe processes herein, but cutlery generally including surgical knives ofvarious shapes may be readily formed from the initially friable r'nassof heat treated but uncompressed refractory materials and latersubjected to the consolidating treatment in a refractory embedment.

Referring now to Figs. l5, 16, there is shown a refractory core memberof material 10 encased in a attened metal tubular sheath 1l. Thematerial 10 may comprise any of the refractory carbides, silicides,borides, tellurides, of the V and VI periodic groups as hereinabove setforth. The sheath 'member 1| may be of any ferruginous composition suchas stainless steel, or of Monel metal, pure nickel or other workablematerials, which metals may be adapted to react and alloy with therefractory core material 10 under the conjoint influence of heat andpressure. The composite material 10, 1| is heated to a forging heat andbelow the melting temperature of.

the sheath material proper and is then subjected to a rolling or forgingoperation to give a blank, designated generally, for the purpose ofconvenience, by the numeral 12. 'I'he member 12 may be of any desiredthickness and preferably is made thin enough to serve directly as arazor blade as shown more in detail in Figs. 21 and 22, or it may beused to form straight edge razors, surgeons knives and other articles ofcutlery and cutting members by incorporating it as an element in acutting member. For this purpose a backing strip or member 13 ofgenerally U-shape may be tted over one edge and welded or brazed to theouter surface of member 12 as indicated more particularly at 14. Theresulting composite may then be heat treated to a forging temperatureand a blank 15 of suitable shape formed. This member may have athickened back portion 16 and a reduced cutting edge blank portion 11with tapering sides 18. The sheath members are interfused to form acommon sheathing about the unreacted portion of the original corematerial 10.

The sides 18 of the composite blade blank may be hollow ground or shapedin any desired manner and suflicient material may be removed from theedge by grinding to expose a cutting edge 19, all as indicated moreparticularly in Figs. 19 and 20. The edge may be finished in the usualmanner asabove indicated to give a finished blade designated generallyby the numeral 15a.

As noted above the member 12 may be formed to give razor blade segments80 having an edged portion BI of pure carbide or carbide base ma-`terial shaped to formed a desired cutting. edge. The edge opposite thecutting edge may be provided with a plurality of indentations 82 adaptedto permit the blade to be engaged or abutted against posts 83 of aGillette or like type safety razor holder 84 and be retained in positionby a holder or guard member 85. A pair of the blade segments 80 may beabutted in a holder as indicated generally in Fig. 2l, giving a doubleedge member 86. These segments or members when clamped in a. holder willfunction in the same manner as the usual bendable razor blade and willgive substantially permanent cutting edges owing to the high naturalmineralogical hardness of the cutting edge material of refractorycarbides or mixtures or alloys thereof. Considering the constructionshown in Figs. 24 and 25, a blank or cylindrical block 90 of heattreated refractory carbides and the like, may be formed in the usualmanner, and without pressure, and thereafter subjected to formingtreatments whereby to form rolls for rolling mills and the like. Suchrolls may comprise a body portion 9| with necks or bearing members 92.The member 9|, depending on its size, will be subjected to the usualsecond high temperature heat treatment in an insulating embedment andfor relatively long period of time, as indicated hereinbefore. Owing tothe bulk or mass of such articles the cooling treatment'will be extendedover several hours time, requiring, in some instances, in the caseoflarge members as much as 24. hours, or more. After the cooling treatmentthe roll may be finished and surfaced in the -usual manner by diamondlapping or like treatment. Drill tips, turbines, pump blades and otherconvoluted articles which are required to be abrasion and wear resistantas well as having a decided shock resistance, may be prepared accordingto the methods hereinabove set forth.

It will now be appreciated that there has been provided improved edgedcutting members of refractory carbides and like compounds, either pureor admixed or alloyed or combined with auxiliary metals of lower meltingpoint to increase the toughness of the materials Where desired. It willfurther be appreciated that the various cutting members such as straightedge razors, safety razor blades, circular saws, milling cutters, shearblades, drills and the like may be prepared from refractory materials asherein set forth solely within the appended claims.

While certain novel features of the invention have been shown anddescribed and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will beunderstood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in theforms` and details of the devices illustrated and in their operation maybe made by those skilled in the art or without departing from the spiritof the invention.

I claim:

1. In the formation of refractory carbides and other normallynon-workable compounds into implements and tools, the improvementscomprising placing uncompressed pulverized refractory carbide materialin' a suitable container, heating the same to form a friable chalk-likemass, thereafter rough-forming said mass intoblanks for implements andtools, embedding said blanks in refractory insulating material, heatingthe so formed and embedded blanks at temperatures suicient to causemaximum shrinkage of the material of said blanks with resultantdensincation thereof, cooling the so treated blanks and embedment insitu, removing the cooled blanks from the embedment and finish formingcutting edges on the same by means of diamond bearingand like formingtools.

2. In the formation of refractory carbides and other normallynon-workable compounds into implements and tools, the improvementscomprising placing uncompressed pulverized refractory carbide and likematerials in a suitable container, heating the same to the order of 1000t 1500 C. and for a time period of ten minutes to one hour to formarfriable, chalk-like mass, thereafter rough-forming said mass into blanksfor implements and tools, embedding said blanks in refractory insulatingmaterial, heating the so formed and embedded blanks at temperaturessuflicient to cause maximum shrinkage ofl the material of said blanksand of the order of 1800" to 2500 C., with a resultant densicationthereof, cooling the so-treated blanks and embedment in situ, removingthe cooled blanks from the embedment and finish forming the same bymeans of diamond bearing and like forming tools.

3. In the formation of refractory carbides and other normallynon-workable compounds into edged cutting implements and tools, theimprovements comprising placing uncompressed pulverized refractorycarbide and like materials in a suitable container, heating the same toform a friable, chalk-like mass, heating the samel to the order of1000'to 1500 C. and for a time period of ten minutes to one hour to forma' friable, chalk-like mass, thereafter rough-forming said mass intoblanks for cutting edged implements and tools, embedding said blanks inrefractory insulating material in a container, heating the so formed andembedded blanks at temperatures suiicient to cause maximum shrinkage ofthe material of said blanks and of the order ofv 1800 to 2500 C. andforv a time periodof ten minutes to one hour, with a resultantdensiflcation thereof, cooling the so treated blanks and embedment insitu, removing the cooled blanks from the embedment and forming cuttingedges on the same.

4. In the formation of refractory carbides and other normallynon-workable compounds into edged cutting implements and tools, theimprovements comprising placing uncompressed pulverrized refractorycarbide and like materials in a suitable container, heating the same toform a friable, chalk-like mass, heating the same to the` order of 1000to 1500 C. and for a time period of ten minutes to one hour to form afriable, chalk-like mass, thereafter rough-forming said mass into blanksfor cutting edged implements and tools, embedding said blanks inrefractory insulating material in a. container, heating the so formedand embedded blanks at temperatures sufficient to cause maximumshrinkage of the material of said blanks and of the order of 1800 to2500" C. and for a time period of ten minutes to one hour, with aresultant densication thereof, cooling the so treated blanks andembedment in situ and for a time period of one hour to twenty-fourhours, removing the cooled blanks from the embedment and forming cuttingedges on the same.

JEAN HUBERT LOUIS DE BATS.

